Might want to keep eyes peeled for this one...

George Ryan

George Ryan served as Governor of Illinois from 1999-2003 and if you believe Rich Miller who writes about him today Ryan was a Governor who got things done and in spite of being a convicted felon he was a solid governor. The same couldn't be said of Rod Blagojevich or even the current incumbent Pat Quinn about whom Miller states that, "Pat Quinn will never go to prison, but he’s no leader".

OK so what about George Ryan? He had recently been released from prison after serving a term for corruption and now we see his new plans as a free man. He's writing a book and there are concerned that he's not a significant figure nationally in spite of his moratorium on the death penalty in this state. Another thing he did noted by Rich Miller was meeting with then Cuban President dictator Fidel Castro while Ryan was governor.

All the same, to see this man's reflection on his long time in Illinois politics should be an interesting read. People are expecting him to open some closets although let me not allow myself to get that excited when that book is finally published. Just take it for what it's worth and then learn what we can from it.

This potential book was even compared to one written by Rod Blagojevich before he was finally sent to prison. I'm sure the gripe about Blago's book was that it really didn't say anything other than he continued to plead his innocence for the corruption he was eventually sent to prison for.

Now as for the future of the office of Governor in this state Miller closes with this:

What we most desperately need in this state is somebody who won’t be going to prison, but who still knows how to operate the levers of government and politics. Is that really too much to ask?

That's what we want in all our public official. We just need one who can win elections and credibly!

I haven't covered the Black Hawks here in their playoff run...

It's been three years since the Black Hawks won the Stanley Cup. This blog followed them every step of the way in 2010 however in the two years since well I've neglected to follow their playoff performance. They hadn't fared two well last year I believe they were eliminated in the first round.

This year in a lockout shortened season the Hawks were hot and so hot they were at the top of the NHL's Western Conference and breezed past the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the playoffs in five games. After three games in the second round the Black Hawks are down by one game against the Detroit Red Wings.

This year's playoffs are interesting in that I read that this is the first time in a long time that all of the Original Six franchises made the playoffs. The Original Six in addition to the Hawks and Red Wings are the Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, and New York Rangers. The Bruins and Rangers are facing each other in the second round of the playoffs.

In any event in covering the Black Hawks during the course of their Stanley Cup winning run, it's now time to cover them. I'm not going to show highlights of the last series, however, what we can see here are the highlights of the last three games against the Wings.

Game 1 Wings v. Hawks in Chicago - Hawks win [VIDEO]

Game 2 Wings v. Hawks in Chicago - Wings win [VIDEO]

 

Game 3 Hawks v. Wings in Detroit - Wings win [VIDEO]

The next game is in Detroit on Thursday starting at 8 PM Eastern. Alas I won't be able to watch, however, it will be my goal to watch the highlights and of course share them with you when the game is over!

President Obama speaks to the Morehouse College class of 2013

[VIDEO] Here is the President's address to the class of 2013 at Morehouse College. All 32 minutes and while I'm aware of how the President is portrayed by those who oppose him it's certainly great to have the leader of the free world speak at a graduation especially if it just so happens to be my own alma mater. I'm looking forward to seeing the full ceremonies as it's not the President who's important here, it's the graduates as they worked very hard to see this day come!

Alas, the past week haven't been very good to the President. We have the story regarding the IRS targeting Tea Party groups come out. Also the Benghazi is still in the news, that was where an US Ambassador was killed in Libya by insurgents.

I also found that someone threw politics into the momentousness of President Obama coming to Morehouse to speak to the graduates. Here's the title to an article from the New York Daily News: "As President Obama tells Morehouse grads he strives to be ‘a better man,’ Republican critics suggest he ought to". Although the article itself mentions some of the commencement address it says very little about Republican critics connecting some of what he said which some of the bad press he's been receiving as of late.

I do believe, however, that most of this criticism you may have seen in a variety of quotes seen on TV. Perhaps even FOX News it seems although I would have to corroborate this will actual videos. That's something I'm not prepared to do at the moment.

All the same, I still view the President coming to Morehouse as a positive. It causes me to cringe when anyone event the President himself referring to himself in the same vein as Dr. Martin Luther King because Obama is more of a political leader than Dr. King. King himself was certainly more of a religious or moral leader than Obama can ever hope to be. Although perhaps King's vision of a Black person or anyone becoming President of the United State by the content of his character but not because of the color of his skin is something that we could get out of this comparison.

In spite of his current problems, it was great to see Morehouse College get some international attention and hopefully this could mean that more people will see the primary mission of Morehouse in a good light. Especially to see the positivity of mostly Black males completing their college education!

My weekend at the movies: "Star Trek Into Darkness"

This past weekend I finally had the opportunity to see the latest entry in the Star Trek franchise entitled Star Trek Into Darkess at the Chatham 14 theaters. There were some unexpected surprised in this movie some plot points that were inserted into the story that's as much part of this universe even if this is an alternate reality. The antagonists of this film are muddled but still clear and as always our heroes win the day. The ending could've easily resembled Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan but thankfully they didn't stay that course and of course it's an action packed film.

As seen in the trailer or even in some promotional materials the USS Enterprise takes a serious beating in this movie. We already saw Spock in a volcano and jumping from a skyscraper in addition to him running around. Also the Klingons make a brief appearance and they look much more menacing than usual. I could see them as the universe's answer to biker gangs!

Overall a great movie, it has me thinking about seeing it again because usually once I see it at the show it's not likely to be viewed again until it's on sale as a DVD.

I noted not long ago on Twitter that when Star Trek was released in 2009 I was graduating from Star Trek. My graduation occurred on May 17, 2009 and it had premiered on May 8, 2009. And looking at my stubs that I've been collecting for years it appears I went to a show on May 10, 2009, a Sunday.

Finally a shoutout to the Morehouse College class of 2013 who had President Obama as a commencement speaker. It's something I hope to share with you as soon as I see any video of it in the next few days although I see it has been politicized already. That will be shared here as well.

Sorry for veering a bit off topic, however, the Star Trek franchise remains in good hands and hopefully we will see more Klingons in the next movie! Also even more better, now I have possession of two posters for this movie and certainly something you'd expect to have seen before this film was released. A wonderful treat for myself that excites me even more! :)

ALSO, in a recent post in showing a new trailer for Into Darkness, I referred to this film as Star Trek 13. That was incorrect as the current installment is in fact the 12TH Star Trek film. I would correct it in that post but then I figured just let it be. When the next movie is released and this blog continues that will certainly be correct! :P

Mayor Emanuel and CTA Launch Train Tracker

I think they changes they recently unveiled for the train tracker I have used frequently since it was created close to two years ago are quite nifty. Alas by Sunday, I will have to be concerned about the fact that they will shut down the Red Line South. Then again because of some of the changes that they're making should help with the frustration of the commute.

USA Today: Obama critic to deliver sermon at Morehouse after all

The Morehouse alum who had been removed from his role during the course of commencement weekend is back in action just days before the class of 2013 walks across the stage to become Morehouse Men. Of course this will be with President Obama as their commencement speaker:

[Morehouse College PresidentJohn Silvanus Wilson Jr.] said in a statement on Wednesday that [Kevin Johnson] will deliver the sermon and two recent alumni would deliver baccalaureate hermeneutics to the graduating class.

"The focus of commencement weekend should be on the graduates, their families and the historic visit by the president of the United States," Wilson said.

The Philadelphia Tribune op-ed by Johnson ran with the headline "A President for Everyone. Except Black People." Johnson wrote, "When one compares the first African-American president to his recent predecessors, the number of African-Americans in senior Cabinet positions is very disappointing."

In a statement issued by Morehouse on Wednesday, Johnson said he was humbled by the opportunity.

"I commend President Wilson and his administration for continuing the Morehouse traditions of free thought and free speech," he said.

Previous post here!

Sun-Times: IRS, civil liberties scandals could cloud Obama’s second term

It's easy for me to cite FOX News to talk about some of the shortcomings of President Obama's administration. Right now I'm watching Hannity where the theme of tonight's program was Obama's "credibility crisis". Many would dismiss anything shown on FOX so instead let's read this article from the Chicago Sun-Times:

As the nation’s first African-American president and a liberal Democrat who promised change, Barack Obama was expected to emerge as a world leader who would break new barriers when it came to civil liberties.

Five months into President Barack Obama’s second term in office, scandals involving the erosion of Americans’ civil liberties are dominating headlines and threatening to dictate the narrative of Obama’s presidency for weeks, if not months, to come.

As the administration was reeling from a swelling scandal in which the IRS under Obama’s administration admitted it had targeted conservative groups for investigation, including those with the words “Tea Party” or “patriot” in their names, a new revelation emerged that the Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records belonging to Associated Press reporters and editors.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced Tuesday that the Justice Department and the FBI launched a criminal inquiry into allegations against the IRS.

“The FBI is coordinating with the Justice Department to see if any laws were broken in connection with those matters related to the IRS,” Holder said. “We are examining the facts to see if there were criminal violations.”

Lately he's seemed to have been beaten up a bit for Benghazi, and now these scandals have come to the surface. What's going on here?

Via Newsalert!

Another trailer for "Star Trek" 13

[VIDEO] This trailer looks great and I'm even more pumped to see this latest adventure of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701. It looks like it takes a beating in this movie. If this preview doesn't get you excited for this one what else will. It's premiere is a week away and I anticipate seeing it next weekend at least!

This preview was uploaded onto YouTube, however, it was published on April 16 and I'm just now seeing it. I first saw this in the previews for Iron Man 3 when I saw it at River East.

Man sues Morehouse College after they say he never graduated

They may have done things differently in the 1980s, but when I got my degree four years ago I picked mine up the same day as commencement. If this guy got a diploma that he didn't actually earn that's terrible that at the last minute something happened where it turns out he didn't actually graduate.

A man who said he graduated from Morehouse College more than 30 years ago is suing the school because the college said he never met graduation requirements. And now Morehouse is countersuing to get him to return the diploma it gave him 33 years ago.

"They can't have it back, I earned it," Terry Boyd told Channel 2's Tom Jones outside the southwest Atlanta campus.

Boyd's attorney wonders why the school gave him the diploma if it believed he hadn't met the requirements

"How do you mail something like this to someone you're professing did not complete you're requirements for graduation?" attorney Marsha Mignott said.

This all began two years ago after Boyd applied for a job paying nearly $150,000 a year and the company checked his background.

"They said they had a problem verifying my graduation from Morehouse," Boyd explained.

Discrepancy?

Morehouse said he failed an Organic Chemistry class. His transcript shows he made a D.

Boyd said he passed the class. His attorney said it appears someone changed his grade from a C to a D.

Mignott finds it odd the college would let him take Chemistry 2 if he failed the prerequisite Chemistry 1 class. 

As a result, this is going to court and Morehouse wants their diploma back and understandably Mr. Boyd doesn't want to let it go. Let's hope Brother Boyd gets to keep his degree and is not forced to give up his diploma and as a result return to school again to re-earn his degree.

What's going on with the state Republicans?

Well now the coverage over what's going on in the state GOP here in Illinois turns to who will replace Pat Brady who resigned Wednesday. The Chicago Sun-Times Natasha Korecki gives us the rundown and an unscientific poll where the people can decide who should be the new chair of the IL Republican Party. Earlier today the CapFax posted an FB from a potential IL GOP chairman - one Ron Sandack who currently serves in the Illinois House of Representatives Senate (he was incorrectly noted by Korecki as a state representative) is noted for his support of gay marriage in this state. Ironically this was one reason the conservative faction of the state party wanted Brady gone!

Conan provides a "Star Trek Into Darkness" spoiler???

[VIDEO] On Tuesday's edition of Conan there was a sketch that involved the coming new movie Star Trek Into Darkness (STID) and done the way Conan O'Brien would do it. The thing is this sketch came with some phony credits and I'm sure Trekkies such as myself did some digging on who plays who in the coming film.

Anyway, the sketch showed an edited clip of the film's villain Benedict Cumberbatch talking to his co-star Chris Pine who plays Captain James T. Kirk. Cumberbatch's character has often been referred to as John Harrison, however, the credits used for this sketch shows Cumberbatch playing a character with a different name and certainly one familiar to Trekkies.

So on Wednesday's edition of Conan it was noted that a genre news website has picked up on this sketch and reported on the spoilers. I can only see one potential spoiler, the true villain of STID. There had always been rumors of who the antagonist of the next Star Trek film would be and it could've been anyone from Khan (who appeared in the original series episode "Space Seed" & film The Wrath of Khan) or Gary Mitchell from the Star Trek pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

As for the possibility that Conan has nothing but spoilers for the 13th installment of the Star Trek film franchise you can watch his answer to that right here. That's what we get for taking that above sketch very seriously. I suppose if nothing else we shall have to wait until the movie comes out to know for certain!

Another piece of big news the date for STID's release was already set as May 17th, but it has recently been pushed up a day to May 16th.

Illinois Republicans will soon have a new chair...

This actually is yesterday's news, but something that is the result of something that I have been following for a while. The chairman of the Illinois GOP Pat Brady has resigned. This had been expected in the last month or so in light of attempts to remove Brady from his position as chair. The main reason to oust Brady was his public support for gay marriage in Illinois.

As to who would take on the position as state GOP chair Brady would like for a woman to succeed him, however, a former Congressional and Lt. Governor candidate would like to succeed him as well. After the last meeting to consider ousting Brady, it was agreed that there would be a formal process to appoint a new chair of the state GOP.

Time will tell I suppose!